Love is a great yet terrible thing
by Sangos-Gal
Summary: Sango does not feel attracted to Miroku had she been a few weeks ago. Right after the couple share their feelings with each other, Sango is kidnapped by none other than, Bankotsu. Through the reign of evil and bitterness, the two bond in the process.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Nope. I don't own these wonderful characters.

This is my first _proper_ fanfiction. There is more to come in this story. To all those MirSan fans, this is _not_, I repeat, _**not**_ a story for you to read. This is striclty a SanBan story.

**Summary:** Sango does not feel attracted to Miroku had she been a few weeks ago. Right after the couple share their feelings with each other, Sango is kidnapped by none other than, Bankotsu. Through the reign of evil and bitterness, the two bond in the process. Read and find out more! This is a SanBan fic.

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The silent whisper of breeze echoed in her ears, the swift movement of grass against the salty, sea wind. She sat by a hill, hands clenched tightly into the soil of the yellowing grass. A village was not too far from where she sat, the yells of children laughing and giggling, the cheering voice of an audience. She felt strangely secluded; never had Sango been a fan of _parties_. She wasn't up for it when in fact her brother was out there, alone, isolated and possessed by Naraku. Just the though made her quiver with anger and her knuckles, if possible, tightened even more so than before, whitening above the soil. Yet she could not help herself being lead away from the party- she was, however, not here because of the party. It was just _him_. Houshi-sama. _**Miroku.**_ She did not quite know what it felt like to say his name. She could think it plainly but never say it and it gave her an unusual temptation to blurt it out.

And so she did. She did not mouth it, whisper it or imagined herself doing it. She just said it. A little too loudly, perhaps. "Miroku." her voice emitted through the air preeminently. Sango blinked. The name rolled off her tongue oddly and so she said it again. Again and again. There was a pause. He was probably out there, flirting with the women. The Cheif's perfect _daughter_. She was just that flawless. Even Sango was at a loss for words. The smooth, milky skin of hers and the pink hue that formed on her high cheek bones everytime she giggled. Her hair was all the more undeniably perfect. Her long, jet-black, silky hair. A ribbon set nicely upon the side of her bangs. It was just how she held herself in a pose, people took it in awe. And her eyes. Those large, warming blue eyes.

"I take it," said a tired voice from behind, "that you are not here because you hate parties. I sat in the crowd, eating the food, enjoying the time and I noticed you were not there. You know..._you_ were the one who slayed that demon single-handedly. Should you not be celebrating? Or do you just hate to be around me?"

Sango whirled around. There he was. Standing there in his navy blue clothes, staff held aloft in his right hand and look of amusement in his eyes at Sango's bewilderment. Sango pursed her lips huffily, crossed her arms tightly across her chest and stated, "You are wrong." Miroku sighed, stepping closer to her aggravated silhouette and setting himself neatly beside her. Tilting his head to the side, looking at Sango incredulously he spoke in an unnerving voice, "You are avoiding me."

Sango's clenched hands loosened and her eyes softened at his expression. She looked away instantly. She could hardly bear to watch him scruntinizing her face, her thoughts, her body movements. She was in fact avoiding him. It wasn't jealously nor had it been anger this time. This time she felt _nothing_. She had lost all feeling for the man beside her. She had lost all faith, hope and everything she had felt when she had been in love with him. Gulping down her desire to share her new discovery, she heard a sharp intake of breath.

"May I ask why?" Miroku spoke at last. The silence was killing him.

"Miroku."

"_What?_"

Miroku's eyes widened, a hand enclosing atop Sango's, his eyes narrowing as if in a state of dream. "Say it again." he whispered lightly, a faint smile dancing upon his lips. Sango looked up, her bottom lip trembling as her hand squeezed his and she broke out, tears spilling carelessly down her cheeks. Miroku tilted her chin upwards and let his eyes read into her own. In a cracked voice and a tear-stained face, Sango whispered into his face, "Miroku."

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No. No it couldn't be. Miroku practically _knew_ what had caused her to say his name. He had always thought of it on the day she would confess her love to him and blushing with a smile; her hazel eyes glinting with happiness and the perfect look on her face. She would alway be _that_ flawless. No matter what she did, she always looked undoubtedly beautiful. At least in Miroku's eyes, anyway. He was brought back to reality and he let go of her chin, shaking his head in disbelief. She looked so fragile. Just sitting there, a look of guilt forming on her pale features. And then without hesitation, he leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. Sango niether gasped or backed away. She closed her eyes in a somber expression and gave his hand yet another squeeze.

"I knew that you would move on one day," Miroku grinned lightly as he pulled back, "Although, I also knew my name would sound beautifully upon your lips." It was with his words Sango had blushed, unable to look away from his piercing eyes. She exhaled noisily and began, "I-- I'm sorry, Miroku." Miroku waved it away idly, a grin still plastered upon his face. He was also beginning to realise his odds with the woman. And he realised, he was never in love with her. She was merely a _gorgeous _friend of his all along.

"I understand. I too felt strangely distant from you a few weeks from now. It was a feeling that I thought unecessary...until now."

Sango merely smiled and together, hand in hand they stood up and walked into the midst of the party.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Chapter two is up! I'm going pretty fast. Woot.**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha characters. .>;**  
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"Kagome-chan?" Sango asked, a slight grim, pursed look on her face as she set the towels neatly beside the hot stream of water.

"Yes?" Kagome blinked, straightening up just as she had set down her own yellow bag beside the stream. Kagome had noticed, a few days ago that the couple had been acting quite strangely. They held hands quite often, they smiled towards each other and talked rather generously. What inspired Kagome to insist a bath from Sango was that she needed to know the reason behind it. Surely they had gotten together! And the fact that Miroku's wandering hands had stopped, ceased to continue that treacherous routines that ruined every perfect moment he had with Sango, was more than enough for Kagome. She just had to know.

"I hear something," Sango pressed a hand upon her sword, still in her magenta and black exterminating suit that was yet to be taken off for a nice long bath. It wasn't the sound, it was the amount of evil surging through the forest that had inquired Sango to speak. Sango was sure, undeniably sure that they had killed the Queen demon. The link to all the hording demons that raided the village every night. She was sure they killed it off the previous night. However, it wasn't that she was scared that it was yet revived once again, it was the demonic aura that frightened her.

"_Well, well_," someone drawled from their right. Kagome immediately plucked out an arrow and steadily set it along her bow and Sango instinctively drew her sword. Using her Hiraikotsu would be too dangerous for the time being. Back to back, the two women snapped their heads left to right, trying to find where from exactly the man had spoken.

"I come here to play with the dog and I find myself stuck with the pair of you?" Bankotsu questioned to no one in particular, slipping from the darkness and into their view. Kagome gasped and Sango tightened her fingers on the hilt of her sword.

"You talk as if we are no challenge," Sango hissed, eyes narrowing. He was like a fly ready and asking to be killed. He laughed, guffawing in front of them at Sango's comment. They held their breath as Bankotsu lifted Banryu, his sword into the air. And with swift movement, where Bankotsu flicked his arm and Sango instantly pushed Kagome to the right, his sword slicing through the thick of a tree trunk.

"_Watch out_!"

Sango skidded to her left and and swerved below into the ground, flattening herself as much as she could as the tree (which was sliced in half and peaked over, threatening to fall on top of Sango) dangerously gave an involuntary crack and crashed thunderingly beside Sango. Exhaling noisily, Sango pulled out her sword, panting in an unmistakably painful way. Surely, the tree had narrowly missed Sango's flattened body but it had not failed to injure her arm. The tree branch had slickly swapped against her shoulder, cutting deep into her flesh.

"Are you alright, Sango?" Kagome asked, off to the side, unable to move from her spot for she was being watched.

"Hai," Sango replied, giving her wound one last fleeting look before snapping her head back towards the lone man, standing there as if he were the king of the world, as if he owned the pair of girls that had been getting ready to take a bath only a few moments ago. Bankotsu smirked, sword swung over his shoulder and a look of triumph flashed in his eyes. Pathetic. Simply pathetic. He assumed the half-breed and the Monk were off somewhere in the village, unable to tell if their ladies were in danger. Incapable, in fact. They had no idea Bankotsu had decided to party poop.

"What do you want!" Kagome asked, a look of determination on her face.

Really. The girl had a good point. Bankotsu had no want in this. He was merely bored. Naraku himself had betrayed him, killed off his brothers and just for the fun of it, left Bankotsu alive to see how it would play out. He was looking for a prey. After all, he was a mercenary, ready to pounce on every life form that crossed his path. Especially if they were related to _Inuyasha_. He stood there through silence, letting Kagome's words sink in.

Sango had a maudlin feeling that Bankotsu was planning something terrifying for both the girls. Gulping down the last of her shredded fear, Sango hissed to Kagome, who was still standing across her glaring at Bankotsu through her bangs, "Kagome-chan! Leave now. Tell Inuyasha and Houshi-sama of this. I will take care of him." Kagome shook her head, unable to speak at the horrid thought of leaving her best friend. There was no way in hell---

"Now!" Sango bellowed, pointing a hand toward the village. It was, in fact, rather far. Kagome gave a look of terror towards the direction of the village, "I will be fine!" Quivering with fear and guilt, Kagome silently stumbled through the forest. Bankotsu blinked, eyebrow cocked upward a confused look on his face.

"You act as if I did not hear that," he said slickly, running a hand through his raven black hair. Sango stayed silent, eyes swerving left the right, studying the place. And with a glance to the towels that lay thrown on the side of the lake, Sango charged, sword raised slightly. It was amusing to watch her as she took off at a run towards him, apparently the thought of _defeating_ him were against her. With a thrust of his arm, his fingers enclosed around the blade of her sword and pulled forward. He was expecting her to lose balance, to let go with amazement. However, Sango held onto the sword as he pulled it against him and with a blatant look on her face, Sango plunged downward and swung a punch into his gut; which was without doubt blocked effortlessly. He gave her a push as she tumbled backward and slapped her across the face. Surely, she would have realized by now that it was remotely stupid. She looked a wreck, as she gave a touch to her bruised face and then to her bleeding lip.

With hardihood and obvious stubbornness, Sango released a dagger from the side of her arm and once again charged toward his silhouette. Bankotsu stared at her cold-bloodedly before letting out a low hiss like venom issuing from his mouth and blew a punch into her gut, digging into her. With a gasp of pain, Sango doubled over, knees bucked and fell onto the ground, helplessly. As she had tried to stop his punch, her dagger had been upturned and it had too dug into her flesh. In reckless attempts to even so get a scratch on him, she continued to drive at him. Over and over again. This time, Bankotsu, who had had enough of this worthless woman, fed-up actually, grasped a hand onto her neck, lifting her frail and dainty body into the air, he swung her over his shoulder and stalked off with a run.

"_Let me go!_" her voice swapped through the air, squirming underneath the power of his robust arm. The wounds and cuts that had marvelled across her brittle body was more than enough for her to slip into a dead faint. And so she did, arms failing and hanging limpy against his back.

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Author: How was it? Good? Bad? Ok? Review, please! ;


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Nuh-uh. Don't own Inuyasha.

Reviews

**kittyb78: **Lovely beginning? It's not my best work but I was hoping people would like it! Thank you, nonetheless.

**Kitty-Cat-13-7: **Yeah, I'm glad I got that over with. I was trying to break the two up without getting Miroku's feelings hurt. XD

**Lord Batty: **YFate is a hell of a lot better an author than I am and no, my story line is far off from hers. Even though the general kidnapping idea is there. In her story, however, Inuyasha had killed off Bankotsu's brothers, not Naraku (like in mine). Our stories differ. You need not worry that it'll turn out the same. I'm sorry you think that its 'A LOT' like her story but the truth is, it's not. So let's leave it at that.

**RevealedSecrets: **Thank you! Keep reviewing, wink, it's just encouragement for me. xD

**sanjan-waves: **Yeah. I'm awesome. XD Kidding. O.o; But thank you for the comments!

**A/N: **Thanks everyone for reviewing! I just wanted to ask if you'd like to see Inuyasha and Kagome scenes. If you do, I won't hesitate to add! But they won't be very long because after all, this is a SanBan story! Once again, thank you and keep reading!

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There was a sudden warmth tingling through her body, and her eyes flickered open. She didn't move, her breathing staunch and her heart beat racing. Sango let her eyes wander warily to the insides of the cave. She could see the fire flickering throughout the cave. She shifted her right arm underneath her body and received a sharp pain in her ribs. She remembered herself floating in and out of conciousness as Bankotsu carried her. The wound from her dagger still stung, throbbing painfully. Sango peeked below her arms to see neatly wrapped bandages below her chest.

Oh Gods, where the hell was she? And what was Bankotsu planning to do with her? Her lips parched dry, Sango's blurred vision strengthened, the clean sight of a man sitting across from herself opened. He just stared, a look of arrogance on his face, his sword lying beside him and his navy blue eyes boring into hers. And then he smirked, causing Sango to stiffen. She scrambled into a sitting position, muffling the agonizing pain she got from her bruised and cut up wounds. Lips white in indignation, Sango retreated herself further away from Bankotsu.

"Don't move," he snapped irritably, the smirk vanished, "I worked on your wounds for a _fucking_ hour. It'll be all a waste then, wench." Sango's lips tightened, if possible, even more. And she tried to to talk only letting out a series of coughs. After a few moments of relentless attempts to lick at her lips in order to shun down her weakness in front of him, Sango whispered, "What are you going to do with me?"

"Nothing too hostile," Bankotsu sneered playfully and then burst out laughing as Sango recoiled trying to push herself into the wall, "Just kidding! I'm only _kidding_!" Bankotsu grinned, hands pressed against his chest to show her he meant no offense.

"What will you gain if you keep me hostage?!" Sango demanded, eyes darting toward Bankotsu and then to the exit of the cave. The heat she emitted through her body represented how furious she felt, her hair tangled, cheeks flushed in animosity and teeth bared threateningly. Bankotsu smirked at her sudden change in mood; she looked rather adorable. Slightly skeeved but mostly impressed by her stubborn behaviour, Bankotsu shrugged, "You know. That's a _really good_ question. Because I really have no reason for taking you hostage. Except, perhaps to make the half-breed dog angry." He blinked, adding more kindle into the already lit fire.

Sango furrowed her eyebrows, lips pursed yet again. What was wrong with this guy? Taking her hostage to make Inuyasha _mad_? What in the world had she gotten herself into and this madman--she wondered solely, what he would do with her and how long he would keep her to himself. And they sat in silence, Sango averting her eyes from the mercenary and massaging her ribs lightly. While Bankotsu continued to stare idly, without care.

Minutes passed by and what seemed like an hour, Bankotsu had fell on his back, arms crossed behind his head and exhaling noisily in boredom. He had tried to strike up a conversation with her a few times, asking her about her clothing or offering to change her bandages for her in which she looked up to glare at him icily through her bangs and tried to retreat further away from him as if he were bugging the life out of her.

"You look mighty like him," Bankotsu spoke up once again and then giving her an elevator eye, studying her pink and black clothing, he continued, "And your clothing. Just like his. He talked about you a few times. I think."

Sango snapped her head upwards, eyes widening. At least that got her attention and he smirked victoriously. Unfortunately, his moment of triumph was short lived as tears welled in her eyes. He wished she would just resort to physical violence, women never did play fair. Sango blinked away her tears as Bankotsu's own smile faded into an apologetic expression.

"You know him?" he asked, daringly.

A moment of silence. And then--

"He is my brother." she whispered, head bowed and eyes avoiding his own. Oh how she wished she could hold her little brother in her arms again, instead, she was stuck here with _Bankotsu_, the stupid mercenary had no idea what he was putting her through. _Kami...help me..._

"He died though, didn't he? Not too long ago," the moment the words left his mouth, Bankotsu wished he could have pulled them back. Anything, _anything_ was better than what caused his little outburst of truth to happen. Sango had lifted her head, eyes widened in a trance, she uttered, fingers digging into her own hair as if she herself was going mad, "_No, you lie!_" she shrieked and then tumbling onto her feet, energy lost, her knees bucking, Sango crawled her way toward Bankotsu. Who had half a mind to back away from her. Grabbing both his shoulders, she shook him violently, "_You're lying! Tell me you're lying!_" she bellowed into his face, face dry but with an unkempt, maddening look on her face.

Bankotsu shook his head, "I'm not lying." he tugged at her calloused hands, trying to get her to calm down, to not damage her already cut open wounds. Bruised face helpless for the moment, everything came crashing down for her. The last hope of, one shred of faith and a life with her own brother, everything was gone. The one thing that gave her strength, the one reason she held onto herself with command and honor, to hunt down Naraku; everything seemed pointless and life was a game at that point.

Bankotsu watched the girl sobbing, moaning, thrashing around in the cave, all thought lost; her fingers clutching herself in agony. She felt her heart thump loudly against her chest, as she felt something heavy slipped down her throat and lungs. She quivered violently, unable to help herself, she looked up, face streaked with upcoming tears and and hair hung loosely against her sweaty face. Bankotsu empathized. He felt deeply ashamed of himself for a moment; he felt pity for the girl as she face him once again, hands grabbing onto his shoulders but this time, lightly, she whispered into his face, "_Naraku_?" It was a simple question and it meant only one thing. Naraku had indeed taken the shard, no longer satisfied of what became of Kohaku and left the boy as a dead doll, no longer in his service, no longer of importance to him.

Bankotsu nodded as thunder rumbled distantly from the outside of their own cave. Black, ugly clouds slowly floated together in the sky, mating and joining with one another in a lewd move to accumulate enough power to deluge upon the outskirts of the mountain. The sun fought off the black clouds as best as it could, but in what could've been a dark portent of the future, the clouds swallowed up the golden disc and replaced it with a gloomy haze, leaving the place to look less inviting than usual.

Sango drooped herself to the floor, forlorn; she felt unprotected, strangely alone, especially vulnerably weak in between the cocky mercernary's presence. And with arrogance like he would always do, Bankotsu slipped an arm around her waist, which she did not protest and willingly gave in as he pulled her to himself, setting her in his lap. She gave a moan of guilt, which had nothing to do with her wounds and _everything_ with her loss. Bankotsu cracked, "Shut up wench! And sleep! If you move from my lap, I swear I'll kill you. And I'll repeat it once again, I_ worked on those wounds for an hour_. A fucked up hour!" he snarled.

Had he not known, Sango would have voluntarily spoke out for him to kill her. Hoping by all means he could kill her; free her from this damned world. Everything seemed to distant right now and she slipped yet again into a dead faint, head lolling carelessly on his shoulder.

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A/N: I know this is pretty short, but the next update's going to be pretty soon!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Nope. I don't own Inuyasha characters.

A/N: Thanks again you guys for the reviews! I'm still keen on adding KagomexInuyasha scenes and where the group might be at this point. But that will be all next chapter! If anybody has any ideas on how to spice up the story, don't forget to mention and I might consider it. You never know until you try. ;) Remember to R&R!  
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Sango's eyes opened, her body's stability rickety. She let her fingers even out the silken clothing underneath her and through a sharp intake of breath—and the noted slow breathing against her— Sango whirled herself around, still perched securely in Bankotsu's lap, and gasped. What in the _world_? The familiar pearly white teeth smirked, Bankotsu's navy blue eyes luminous in the lightened room; Sango blushed furiously, "What the _fuck_!" She struggled to pull herself out of his lap, as his arms refused to move from the already encircling position around her waist.

"Why so hasty?" Bankotsu sniggered and so his amusement and delight was ephemeral as his face connected with her lanky elbow and Bankotsu (who apparently did not anticipate the impulsive assault) sputtered irritably, his hands flying to his nose as a trickle of blood oozed down to his chin. Sango yanked herself free from his arms and spat wappishly, "Pervert!"

Wiping away the last of his blood, Bankotsu made a haughty 'hmph' noise from the back of his throat and spared her a fractious look. What was with this girl? Here he was, taking care of her raw gashes and wounds and she was too busy to even thank him for that. Growling with unmistakable anger, Bankotsu raised her gaze toward Sango, half-expecting her to be standing there in a bow and repeatedly apologizing, instead he found himself with the same woman as the night before; hands embracing herself, kneeling on the floor with a depressing aura.

Of course, the lost she suffered still hadn't gone forgotten. She was still mourning over that kid.

She was dreadfully mind-numbing, boring, tedious, tiring…whatever word that described her monotone behaviour. What was worse, she didn't even look up from her position, didn't even so touch the food he left for her. She just sat there like a rag doll doing _nothing_. And Bankotsu just stared.

Once he had let his hands meander beneath her arms, to mend the tattered bandages, only to be surprised by her fierce reaction, her face contorting into anger mixed with shame as she hissed in a deadly tone, "_Don't touch me_!" And he had grudgingly snapped back to shut her up, pinned her lightly to the ground (of which she could not pull herself out of in the apparent state of her body) and mended her bandages. Although he could feel her struggling stubbornly below his weight.

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The room was carpeted, four walls connected to each other to form a fairly cosy place. There were two futons, set on either side of the room, a bamboo door and a window protruding on Sango's side of the room. Bankotsu had taken the fainted woman's state as a positive thing. It was all the more easier for him to carry the girl the previous night, through the forest and into an unknown yet inviting village. The Chief of the rural community had generously let the two stay in their guest house and offered free food and nourishment. The women of the place had agreed to nurture Sango and in repayment, Bankotsu had concurred that he would protect the village from any disastrous ailment or demon attacks.

"Feh." He sat beside the closed compartment, awaiting the finished nourishment of his hostage. He had finally concluded, finished his processed thoughts of _why_ exactly he had taken Sango as a hostage. Truthfully, he had felt painfully sympathizing toward Sango's loss and her unawareness of the fact. There was one thing, in fact, that they both utterly and passionately hated; Naraku.

Of course, in order to join forces, he was keen on not only getting her used to his company but also enjoy it. And there was this one other fact…of course, he couldn't quite tell how it happened…there was a sudden attraction Bankotsu felt toward Sango. But that was rather pointless, it was probably his pity. Nothing more…Right? Whatever, he longed to keep her by his side until he actually knew what he exactly wanted.

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_Scrub, scrub, wash and clean._

_  
_The young women, chattered happily as they scrubbed against Sango's sweaty and clammy body. They had her sitting inside a half cut circular bath tub, water rinsing through her creamy skin and inky dark hair. Thick though it was, it was washed out into a silky condition.

After setting bandages across her ribs and a few massages upon her bruised leg and shoulder, they pulled Sango into a standing position. She shivered lightly, her naked body being pursued by the beautiful women, as they wrapped and hauled a light blue coloured kimono around and onto Sango. There were white flowery patterns drawn across the soft and supple clothing. A fairly tall, tanned woman tugged at Sango's now silky and dried out hair and pulled it into a high ponytail, tying a red ribbon securely around it.

After a few giggles and content whispers throughout the girls, they towed Sango outside with them, shoving a bowl of rice and vegetables into her hands as they forced her to sit across Bankotsu's egotistical frame.

A smirk formed across his smug features as he propped a hand on his knee and set his chin upon it, staring at Sango's irritated flushed appearance.

"_What_?" she snapped.

"Nothing."

"Stop staring at me."

He grinned, leaning back against the wall. Her nose bristled angrily and her ponytail swung across her frame in a livid manner as Sango stood up, abandoning her bowl of rice and limping her way toward Bankotsu to stab a stubborn finger into his chest. "You better explain to me why and _what_ you are planning to do," her face inches away from his, she continued, "Or I'll beat the _shit_ out of you. Even with my injuries, I can make you hurt more than you know."

Bankotsu couldn't help but smile at her adorably cute actions; her pretty dress-like kimono fell across her frame in just the right ways, making her skin look bizarrely rosier and her mahogany, golden eyes glittered angrily yet prettily across her adorned facial features. And she looked all the more beautiful when her face flushed in embarrassment and awkwardness as she caught him looking at her in an odd manner.

"You are _hopeless_." Sango heaved a sigh through her lips, annoyed of his silent behaviour and stalked back across the table when the Chief had entered to have an 'important' discussion with Bankotsu; something to do with a half fox half monkey demon that kept raiding their town every week, throughout this month.

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"Dance, dance, _dance_!" a few sleazy drunken men raised their jugs in union, barking toward Sango's rigid form. The after-party of defeating the demon was gone throughout the whole night, in which Bankotsu made sure to untie Sango's bound wrists in the guest room. He made sure she wouldn't take the chance of the attack as a moment of freedom and run off into the night, _without _weapons. And a group of pretty looking women had stumbled into their room and hauled Sango into the light breeze of the night.

Bankotsu grinned selfishly, raising his own half-filled jug with the men to encourage her. And as Sango stood up, her taut shoulders rigid with radiating fury as the men cheered thinking as if she gave in to their wants.

She raised her gaze and met Bankotsu's, a glare bouncing icily as she spoke, voice fatal in anger, "_You are despicable!_" She turned on her heel stormed away from his faded expression, making sure to slap one man across the cheek for yelling out dirty wordings toward her. Flinching inwardly, Bankotsu fled off in her direction.

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"_Don't_ mercenary," Sango snapped, withdrawing from his grasp and stalking further from his presence, "You think it is funny-- did you enjoy yourself thoroughly tonight? I have never been _this_ embarrassed in my whole entire life! Even the _monk_ knew his limits—" she cut herself off, staring bitterly back at Bankotsu' apologetic face.

"Do you even know the _meaning_ of honour?" Sango spat sullenly and found herslef facing a stiffly infuriated mercenary. She gasped loudly as his hand connected with her neck, roughly pushing her against a brick wall, "You know nothing of me, wench. And before you make anymore ridiculous assumptions of yours—know this, I am but the most, vain though I am, honourable man." He whispered dangerously against her face. Sango's face reddened and as he let go, she panted for air, caressing her neck.

"**DEMONS**!" a cry pierced through the air as both the mercenary and the tajiya looked up into the sky to see a raging mass of demons circling over the village before plunging in to attack.

**A/N:** Hope you liked it! ; Next chapter includes action and continuation of this scene.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Nope. I don't own Inuyasha characters. None. Zip. Nada.

**A/N: **In this chapter, my young-ins, is where Sango develops feelings for Bankotsu. Whoopie! xD

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_Sango-chan…_

She closed her eyes, hand clutching against her heart in inevitable guilt. Predictably, Inuyasha was by her side, arms around her stiff body, in order to calm and ease her culpability. Of course, it couldn't be helped. After all, Sango had been the one to demand Kagome to get herself to safety and make sure to come back with Inuyasha and the Monk.

"Inuyasha.." Kagome began, not exactly sure of what to say, "I didn't know what to do— I was sure she could have taken care of herself, and- _and_ you know--" Her words were cut off as Inuyasha growled, tired of her blaming herself for everything.

"Shut up, for once, Kagome," Inuyasha stepped back, hands held aloft on her shoulders tightly as he snapped, "We know it couldn't be helped. And…as much as I regret Bankotsu disappearing before we caught up to him—at least, you weren't taken as well." He gulped as Kagome, tear-filled, embraced the half-breed warmly.

"You are _sweet_." She whispered, voice muffled against his chest.

Kagome's heart sank at not knowing Sango's fate, but the pain was tempered by the fact she had felt the guilt ever since she had awoken. She knew Sango would never have left her alone for this long. She felt so empty without Sango's presence. A presence that made her feel safe and able to share her feelings with ease.

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The air reeked of bitter, rotten stench. And Sango was definitely not one to coward out on a rampant amount of demons attacking the village. She was a demon-slayer. She wasn't about to abandon an intensely wrecked village. She could feel Bankotsu's strong arms pushing her back against the wall as he lifted his sword, Banryuu, into the air grimacing as he kept his hostage safely behind his back.

It was until Sango had urgently whispered into his ear, voice breathless, "I can fight!" he let her go reluctantly as she grabbed a sword, strangely like her Katana, from a man that lay motionless on the ground, blood spilling carelessly around his lifeless body.

Although her leg strained with pain, Sango had hastily ducked in time to avoid a narrowly missing tail being whipped in her direction. Sango had immediately stabbed another pig-like demon that charged toward her, slicing all the way through his guts, blood splattering on her freshly new clothes. She swerved to her right, left knee bent as she tripped yet another demon.

A pair of bear demons had cornered Sango into the wall, snarling viciously as they swiped toward her and she flinched unable to move anywhere because of the pressure on her bruised ankle. She awaited the impact on her skull and received nothing except a dark chuckle from her left, "Watch yourself, warrior." Bankotsu smirked, whirling his sword in a spinning action and slicing through four demons at once.

With a look of triumph and wilful determination, Sango sunk the sword she held into the eagle demon's lanky legs, who had been getting ready to peck the life out of Bankotsu. "_Watch yourself, mercenary_." Sango mimicked him, a faint smirk hidden behind her shaded face. He merely grinned as they, the taijiya and the mercenary, back to back finished off the last of the demons, making sure to aid one another throughout the battle.

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Sango sighed, hand clutched below her ribs and she fell to the floor, exhausted. Never had she felt _this_ weary and drained after a full-out war battle. The village had gory bodies strewn all over it's grounds and roof tops.

She felt the familiar touch of the mercenary grasp her arm and haul her into a standing position. After picking up his belongings he grabbed a freely untied horse and settled Sango on top of it. Bankotsu simply shot a irksome look toward the horse, as it neighed over the light load of the woman upon its back.

And then idly removing the shard within his sword, which decreased the usual weight of his sword. He plucked it gingerly within his wrist and then climbed up behind Sango, after tying the sword securely beside the horse's side.

Sango felt something flutter distantly in her chest, as Bankotsu climbed behind her, his warmth spreading through her like wild-fire. Hadn't she noticed before how his navy blue eyes glittered a cobalt blue in the moonlight; even though through the daytime his eyes were strangely like Miroku's, except a lot more cocky looking. Sometimes, through the nights at the village (in which they stayed in for almost three days), she noticed how gently he slept. Almost like a child. So innocent, so purely quiet. But the thought wavered slightly, for she had been tied securely to his own wrist, unable to break free.

When she woke up and found herself placed in his lap (even though she slept across the room, away from him, she found herself back in his arms during the night), she had just once-- and it wasn't intentional-- she was only trying to push herself out of his lap, she jad brushed her fingers across his toughly-built chest. His muscles rippled every so often he moved through his sleep.

And for a moment, as she sat on the horse's back, Sango felt strangely hot around him. Ears reddening and a blush creeping to her cheeks. She didn't know _why _she felt like this around him. And he manged to get under her skin so much. He pissed her off for everything he did. His smirk, his body movement, his statements alone irritated her. Kagome had said this to be also another reason when someone fell in love...

He had told her, when she had been too busy pretending to ignore him, he talked and told her many stories of his past. He told her of how his father was a menace, a cold-blooded killer but his mother-- his mother was merely the most compassionate and honest woman of the village. And of the way he described his mother, she sounded strangely like Kaede except a hell of a lot more considering. He told her when he was just the age of nine, his mother had kept the identity of his father a secret. It was too painful for her to reveal it to the village men and women. He told her how the villagers somehow managed to find out and in a fury of hate, they _killed_ his mother. And drove the nine year old boy out of the village, managing to kill the rest of his siblings in the assault. He was _spared_. And he vowed to particularly no one but himself that he would kill _every_ last one of them.

Sango had felt the sympathy at the time, slapping her across the face. The sympathy just slapped her. And Bankotsu just assumed her continued sobs to be for her own loss; for her own brother. Had he not known how _distasteful_ she felt for the village. Just a nine year old boy-- and Sango had realized not too long ago of how sorry she felt and all the more into his company.

She imagined herself, in a temporary moment, eyes closed-- she imagined herself enthralled in in his arms, his head bent and nearing his own soft and supple lips toward hers-- wow, wait, _what_? Shaking her head from the indecisive thought. Her eyes fluttered open and she came to meet a pair of navy blue eyes, inches away from her own. Flushing, Sango snapped immediately, "_What_ are you doing, mercenary?"

She hadn't even noticed him pulling her down and setting her beside a tree, in a clearing of the forest. And when the hell did he light fire?

"My name is Bankotsu, taijiya." he leaned back, an arrogant frown framing his face.

"And my name is Sango, you _dolt_."

They both glared at each other silently, each completely unaware of what was going through one another's mind. And then Sango cracked, for the first time in three days, she burst out laughing at his incredibly _cute_ attempt to glare at her. Bankotsu just wasn't the type to glare. He was more along the lines of...cocky-bastard-who-smirks-even-when-in-the-midst-of-life-threatening-situations. It was just...comical. She bowed her head as unlady-like hee-haws continued in their midst. And she grabbed onto his shoulder to keep herself stable.

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Bankotsu cocked an eyebrow upwards, lost in words as she laughed. A grin slowly dawned upon his lips and then the most bizarre thing happened-- Sango touched his shoulder. Not to hurt him or to swat him away from her. She had held onto his shoulder for support, like a friend or a somewhat- daresay- _flirty_ touch. His eyes fluttered slightly, as her soft breath of laughter blew across his face. Her breath smelt like peppermint and strawberries. What in the _fucking_ world? How could someone smell _this_ good right after they'd have gone through a gruesome battle?

As Sango suppressed her chortling laughter into mannerly giggles, she wiped away an escaping tear.

"What's so funny?" Bankotsu inclined his head to the side, confused all the more.

"_You_." she replied, rolling her eyes.

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Gods, she was so hot. Bankotsu licked his parched lips gingerly as Sango swapped her hands through the air, trying to swat mosquitoes and bugs away from her. He gulped, unable to take his eyes off her lithe figure. Her silky hair was hung high in a ponytail, bangs feathering across his wide forehead. Oh how he _longed _to run his fingers through her hair. Her creamy skin looked so damn succulent and tantalizing, a pink colored hue forming upon the mound of her cheeks. The eyes, a honey-colored exquisite pair of eyes twinkle in the fiery light. Her luscious, full and _darling_ lips glinted a light pink in the in the fire's warm colors. And then she spoke, with the very same lips.

"Do you, uhm, have water?" she asked, fingering a twirl of her hair absent-mindedly.

"I-uh...yeah. Uh- hold on." Bankotsu was caught off guard by her question as he was too busy admiring her impossibly fine features. He grabbed a wooden water container and rolled it toward her. And she hungrily drained the container of its liquid. Gasping as relief washed over her.

"You smell."

"_Excuse me_?" Sango's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I mean- I don't mean- would you like to take a bath?" he asked, his previous comment was not how he imagined to approach her. Sango's face softened and she ran her fingers through her hair and then stared limply at her blood marked clothing.

"I suppose a bath-- _hey!_" Sango face pinkened, arms unstable as Bankotsu sweeped her into his arms, smirking plainly to annoy her, "Let go, mercenary!" Bankotsu only tightened his grip below her.

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Sango's breathing quickened. She knew- she was sure she hadn't felt this weird around Bankotsu when he had been so close. But this time, it was so different. His presence was so damn complicated. She was falling for him. And hard. So hard. She gulped down her desires, hiding away her arousal at the slightest touch Bankotsu made with her skin.

She growled. She hated being so vulnerable around him. so easily manipulated by his touch and phrases. And when he had picked her in his arms, Sango hid her apparent _love_ for his touch and snapped a '_hey!_'. But he just stood there, smirking visibly under the moonlit shade. His lips looked so soft in the blue hue of the moon ray and so _demanding_.

"You wanted a bath, taijiya." he shrugged, "I'm just helping you."

"Help--_helping_ me?" Sango stuttered another crimson shade creeping to her creamy skin.

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There was simply _no_ explanation of how it happened. They both knew _why_ it happened. Of course, Sango felt ashamed, as if throwing away her honor, the legacy, her pride and the dignity of her clan. Everything was just washed away. And the only thing she could say-- or just huff out apparently...she just merely gasped. The attention, the warmth of his hands. Her eyes fluttered as she heaved a sigh through her lips selfishly...

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**A/N: **Want to know what _exactly_ happened? Wait for the next chapter! xD


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